Beowulf
by owleyesdeath
Summary: Detective Yang Xiao Long and private detective Blake Belladonna are assigned to investigate the death of Tukson Kovach. But as they investigate further into his mysterious death, they get closer to a dangerous organization known as The White Fang and find themselves investigating a crime much larger than they originally thought.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Detective Yang Xiao Long pulled up to the once sleepy little apartment building in her police cruiser and parked not far from the taped off entryway, amidst the other police vehicles on the front lawn. She locked the doors behind her and made her way to the officer at the front.

"Detective Xiao Long," she declared as she flashed her badge at the officer.

"Give me a minute so I can pencil you in, please."

"No hurry. It's not like the dead get any deader."

Yang waited a moment as the officer put her name down and lifted the yellow police tape for her. She ducked her head under and continued into the hallway. Analysts were dusting the staircase handrails and there was a bustling of personal down the hallway. Yang followed the flashing of the cameras while keeping a sharp eye out for anything that seemed out of place. She spotted one of her lieutenants just outside the back room.

"Trying to show up a higher ranking officer?"

Her lieutenant- Lie Ren- turned to face her in surprise.

"I happened to be in the area when they radioed in."

"I'm just teasing you!" Yang's grim fell. "How's it look in there?"

"Pretty bad. The family is distraught."

"And the victim?"

"Don't know yet. We'll have to wait for the autopsy to find out the cause of death. Apparently, he was living in the back apartment alone. Didn't go out much. Didn't have people over often. He just went to work and came back and no one get saw him any other time."

"Where did he work?"

"He worked at PC World as a technician. You know, that seedy store off of 8th avenue?"

"Yeah, my sister wanted to stop there once. Is there any family is here?"

"The mother and sister lived not too far from here. They were the ones that found him. They're back there now."

Yang followed the lieutenant's line of sight and saw two obviously distressed women in a side room. Yang shook her head with a sigh. She glanced over at the victim's body and pulled out her case notebook. Ren nodded once before turning to ask the medical examiners some questions.

Yang took a few notes on the position of the body, his bowl of soggy cereal, a shattered mug of coffee, and the fact that the man's body looked almost entirely untouched. There was no blood, no visible stab wounds, and no weapons nearby. The guy just seemed to drop dead.

Yang crouched down to closer inspect the victims face when someone blocked the light and cast a shadow over the body. Yang sighed and twisted her body to face the person behind her. A sharply dressed woman with long black hair stared down at Yang blankly with a pen poised over a pad of paper. Yang raised an eyebrow.

"Can I help you?"

"Are you the lead detective?"

"I'm asking the questions here," Yang said as she stood up. "Who are you and why are you on my crime scene?"

"Blake Belladonna. Private Detective. I got a call to work this case."

Yang glared at Ren who shrugged her an apologetic look.

"It was Goodwitch."

Yang sighed and turned back towards the private eye.

"Detective Yang Xiao Long. As long as we can agree to work together, things'll work out smoothly."

The private detective nodded sharply before sidestepping Yang to get to the body. Yang took the hint and walked over to the two women to ask them some questions. She flipped to the next page in her notebook and scribbled the date and case number at the top.

"Excuse me, I know you've been through a lot today, but could you answer some questions for me?"

The older woman looked up at Yang over her tissue with blood shot eyes. The daughter laid a hand on her mother's shoulder to steady her. The older woman closed her eyes and cleared her throat.

"Tukson didn't deserve this. He lived a simple life. Every week, he would invite my daughter and I over for dinner. He always loved fiddling with electronics. Wires and cables would be strewn all over his floor when he was a child." Mrs. Kovach pulled another tissue from the box closest to her and blew her nose loudly. "Today was- today was his birthday. Kana and I decided to surprise him with a visit. But when I opened the door, we-"

The woman began to cry again and her daughter rubbed her mother's back soothingly. Yang watched them in silence for a moment before turning to the daughter to resume her questioning.

"Kana right?"

The young woman glanced at Yang for a moment before handing her mother the box of tissues and pushing the trash can closer to her.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Can you tell me anything specific about what you may have seen or heard when you walked into the building?"

"Well, the door was locked and I didn't see anyone in the entryway or outside by the street."

"Was your brother acting strangely in the days or weeks before his death?"

"You know what? He was. He's been extra jumpy these few last weeks. I guess it started about a week before that senator was found with kiddie porn on his computer."

Yang raised her eyebrows in interest as she scrawled the information down. Mrs. Kovach loudly blew her nose again.

"Did he tell you anything strange in that time?"

"Hm… not really. Other than being fidgety, he didn't seem off."

"I'm sorry but I have to ask this: did Tukson have any enemies? Anyone that might try to harm him, threaten him, or anything like that?"

"No!" Mrs. Kovach gripped the tissue box in her hand tightly. "Tukson was my sweet innocent child! He must have died of a heart attack!"

"Mother please calm down! This officer is only asking general questions she's required to ask!"

Yang took a step back from the two women, closed her notebook, and slid it back into her coat pocket. Someone cleared their throat behind her. Yang looked over her shoulder and saw Ren motioning to get into the room. She slid out of the way and let her lieutenant attempt to calm the Kovachs down.

Yang stood off to the side of the room as the medical examiners began carrying Tukson's body out to the truck in the front. The evidence retrieval team had already cleaned up their things and documented all their findings and whatever else they did with those huge black cases. Yang wasn't really interested in their methods of spreading black powder everywhere. She waited for the door to close behind the examiners before making one last sweep of the apartment. She noticed the private detective out of the corner of her eye shadowing her and jotting down something in her notepad every so often. Yang shrugged it off and finished her sweep.

Once Yang was done, she caught Ren's attention to wave goodbye and headed towards the entryway where reporters were still hanging around outside. None of them bothered her as she walked to her cruiser (she had threatened to charge reporters with obstruction of justice many times before) but they still took countless pictures. She clicked the doors unlocked and slid into the front seat, closing the door behind her.

"Now off to the station to write up that report," she mumbled to herself.

"You may use my notes if you'd like."

Yang whirled her head around to face her unexpected passenger.

"What the hell are you doing in my car?"

Blake shrugged and pulled a folded paper from her front coat pocket and handed it to Yang. Yang immediately recognized the neat, curly handwriting as Goodwitch's. She sighed as she unfolded it and skimmed the contents.

"I love how she doesn't ask if I wanted to be your chauffeur. This won't be a problem for the majority of the time but I'd have still liked to be asked or something. Whatever, I'll guess we'll just head over to the precinct now."

Yang turned the key and started the engine; she put the car into gear and pulled out of the apartment parking lot. After a few minutes of silence, she glanced over at her new -temporary- partner and grinned.

"I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Yang had plenty of things she loved to do but having to share her case notes with a quiet, judgmental private detective was not one of them. The P.I. didn't really poke around Yang's desk and didn't go through any of her drawers or paperwork (at least as far as Yang could tell) and Yang appreciated that. But the silence was unsettling. She had tried to compliment the other woman's outfit but was answered with a cool stare and a hesitant "Thanks."

She had to admit though, Blake took damn good notes. They were extremely detailed and it almost seemed to Yang that everything was accounted for. She had included minute details like the open latch on the back window and the cabinet door that was slightly ajar. Writing the investigative report was almost too easy with their combined notes.

When the report was finished, Yang hit print and left her desk to grab a coffee and pick up the printed report. She stirred in a packet of sugar and sipped at the hot liquid as she dropped her report off to be filed. She glanced over to her desk where she left the private eye reading some book and, seeing she was still there, headed to the chief's office to demand some answers.

The door to the chief's office was open -as usual- and all the blinds were open, allowing passing people to see inside. Yang checked to see if Goodwitch was around before walking into the office and closing the door behind her. The chief of police looked up from his mug of coffee.

"Ah, Miss Xiao Long, what could I do for you?"

"Mr. Ozpin, I'd like to ask you why Belladonna was assigned to my case and, by extension, me."

"Was she now?" Ozpin sipped at his coffee slowly as he watched Yang fidget and twist her hair around her finger. "I advised Ms. Goodwitch to hire Belladonna specifically for your case. Whatever else Ms. Goodwitch did was beyond my instruction."

"But why was she hired in the first place? This is probably just a simple heart attack victim!"

"Ah, you said just then 'probably'. I hired Ms. Belladonna because I felt she had certain skills and knowledge in an area that would benefit the closure of this case." Ozpin took a sip from his mug. "Are you doubting my judgement?"

Yang lowered her eyes and stared at the ugly rug.

"Of course not, sir," she mumbled.

"It's alright to be doubtful, detective. I've made more mistakes than any man, woman, or child. But I do not think my judgement here is one of them." Ozpin took another sip from his coffee mug. "Now if that is all, you're free to go."

"Thank you, sir," Yang nodded, turned then reached for the door handle to open the door behind her.

"Oh and detective? Could you please ask Ms. Goodwitch to step into my office as you pass by her?"

"Of course, sir."

Yang stepped out of Ozpin's office, closed the door, and walked over to Goodwitch's desk. She waited in front of the desk for a moment until Goodwitch glared up at her from her paperwork.

"Yes?"

"Ozpin would like to speak to you in his office."

Goodwitch stared at Yang for a moment before sighing and clipping her paperwork together. She placed the stack of papers neatly in the top drawer of her desk and got up to walk over to Ozpin's office without looking at Yang again. Yang didn't move until she heard Ozpin's door click shut and let out the breath she was holding.

She glanced over her shoulder to see the office's window shades dropping. No one knew exactly what went on behind that door but pretty much everyone in the precinct agreed that Ozpin and Goodwitch were an item. These speculations were only discussed after work at whichever bar they happened to choose, of course. Glynda Good-bitch would unleash her wrath if word got out that she and Ozpin -a superior officer- were banging.

Yang snickered as she walked back to her desk. The private detective was nowhere to be seen and she hadn't left the book she was reading either. Yang shrugged and woke her computer up to look over her notes for the Kovach case and was getting around to review Belladonna's notes for the case when her phone buzzed and started blasting "Hey Soul Sister." Ren shot her a disapproving look from his desk across from hers but Yang only grinned at him as she answered the call.

"Hey soul sister!"

"Yang! So, I know you're probably all busy with work and whatever but my class let out early and I was hungry so I went to buy a snack but then I remembered that I needed that money to take the bus home! I would have asked a friend to take me home but they had all already left and I still haven't gotten any of their numbers so I thought that maybe I could ask you to pick me up! It doesn't have to be right now! I can wait 'till you get off from work and just go hang out in the library or someplace while I wait!"

"Slow down Ruby! It's not a problem for me to bring you home. Besides, I'm about to leave anyway. Give me ten minutes."

"You're the best Yang!"

"Oh, I knew that already." Yang winked at Ren but he just rolled his eyes and looked away, as usual. "I'll sign out now and head over in a few."

"Thanks Yang!"

Yang hung up the call with a laugh and walked back to her desk where her mysterious new partner had just reappeared. The private eye watched Yang as she opened the desk's top drawer and fished her car keys out of the mess. Belladonna immediately stood up when Yang locked the drawer. Yang looked at her questioningly for a moment before shrugging and walked towards the door.

"See you tomorrow Ren!" Yang called out. Her lieutenant groaned behind her.

Yang hit the elevator button to go down. After a minute, the elevator dinged and the doors opened for her. She reached over to hit the first floor button as soon as she got on. When Yang turned around, Belladonna was standing at the elevator door. Yang held an arm out to hold the elevator.

"Can I help you?"

"Are you leaving?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm going to pick my sister up from school."

"Then I have to come with you."

"What-" Yang started to protest but the private eye had already stepped onto the elevator.

Yang pulled her arm back and the doors closed. She stared at Belladonna.

"And why exactly do you have to come with me to pick up my sister?"

"I need a ride home and Ms. Goodwitch said you'd be in charge of that."

"Wait so, not only am I driving you around during investigations, I have to pick you up and drop you off, too?"

Belladonna nodded. Yang sighed as the elevator dinged. The doors opened up to the first floor of the police building and Yang stepped out, followed closely by Belladonna. She waved at one of the dispatchers before she pushed through the front doors out onto the bustling streets of Chicago. Yang and Belladonna walked to the police parking lot next to the building. Yang's squad car was a spot close to the exit that Yang always parked in. She unlocked the car and Belladonna climbed into the passenger seat. Yang sighed and slid in.

A moment later, they were down the street waiting for a red light. Yang could see Belladonna from the corner of her eye staring at something out the window. She cleared her throat.

"So, where do you live?"

"13476 102nd street," Belladonna said without turning to face Yang.

"Oh, that's Gambol Road. That's on the way to my place. Do you mind if we stop to pick my sister up before I drop you off?"

"That's fine."

"Of course it is," Yang muttered.

Yang and Belladonna spent the rest of the car ride in silence. Yang called Ruby to be out in front of the campus while at a red light a few blocks away. She pulled up and Ruby bounced on her heels until she saw Belladonna in the passenger seat. She made a face but Yang glared at her before Belladonna could notice it. Ruby suddenly smirked and nearly threw the back door off its hinges as she swung it open.

"Hi Yang! Thanks for picking me up! Is this your new girlfriend?"

Yang's jaw dropped as she stared at Ruby -who was grinning- with the rear-view mirror. Belladonna looked at Yang pointedly.

"Why you-" Yang started. "No she isn't my girlfriend. She's-"

"Oh come on Yang, You don't have to lie to me!"

"I'm not," Yang said through gritted teeth. "She was assigned to this case I'm working on."

Belladonna snickered behind a raised hand. Yang glared at her before stepping on the gas pedal. Ruby and Blake both decided to stop teasing Yang- at least for the moment. The two of them talked -about what, Yang didn't know because Ruby did most of the talking- and introduced themselves and whatnot. Yang ignored them the entire time.

Yang somehow managed to speed out of the college campus without running anyone over. The drive to Gambol Road was nearly cut in half because of Yang's lead foot. She jerked to a stop in front of Belladonna's place, some condominium in which she disappeared after she got out of Yang's car.

Ruby climbed to the front seat right after Belladonna got out and closed the door.

"So a new case huh?"

Yang shot her sister a dirty look.

"Does is have anything to do with that senator? You know, the one found with kiddie porn on his hard drive?"

"You sound a little too excited concerning the subject."

"Yeah well are you?"

"No Ruby, this is just a mysterious death case. Probably just a heart attack. We get these sort of calls all the time."

"Then why did Ozpin assign a private detective to it?"

"I don't know. But if this case has absolutely anything to do with Senator Ironwood, I'll ask someone out. Deal?"

"Deal!"

—

"Sir, was it really necessary to hire Belladonna? Detective Xiao Long is certainly capable of handling this case on her own."

Ozpin stood at his office window and stared down at the streets of Chicago. He took a sip from his coffee mug before answering.

"I know that Ms. Belladonna's skills will be put to good use in this case. Trust me."

"I do. And that's why I'm worried."

Ozpin turned to face Glynda and smiled wistfully at her.

"Things will work out. For us, and for Ironwood. You'll see."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The staff at PC World didn't seem to have noticed Tukson's disappearance. None of the employees Yang talked to seemed to know anything about his death or his personal life. They kept saying they didn't know much and to ask the manager. But the manager was out at lunch at the time Yang and Blake walked into the dingy store. Blake disappeared off into the heaps of dusty computer junk, leaving Yang to question the workers.

A couple of hours later, Blake emerged from the back room and stood next to Yang as she talked to the last employee. Yang scribbled a few things down, thanked the man, and then turned to Blake.

"I hope you had more luck than I did."

Blake shrugged and handed the detective her notes. Yang traded hers for Blake's and the two of them took a moment to scan each others notes.

"Not much then, I see."

They swapped their notes back and tucked them away to prepare to leave. Yang thanked the employees and the two women were walking towards the entrance. The door opened and a short, graying man in a gray button down shirt walked in. He stared at Yang.

"You're a cop."

"Um, yes?"

"You're the one parked outside?"

"Yes. Are you the manager of this store?"

The man nodded and gestured the two women towards the back. He unlocked his office next to the storeroom. The three of them filed in and the manager took a seat behind his desk.

"What can I help you with?"

"Well sir, a few days ago, one of your employees- Tukson Kovach- was found dead in his home. We're here to ask you questions about anything you may know about him."

"Oh, that poor man. I'll answer any of your questions to the best of my ability."

"Alright then." Yang and Blake simultaneously pulled their notebooks out. "How long has Mr. Kovach been working here?"

"I hired him a few years ago. Two or three."

"What did he do?"

"He was a programmer. He reprogrammed the old computers we got and cleared out their hard drives and such."

"Did he seem to act strangely in the past week?"

"Well actually... he asked for the week off. I haven't seen him since the Friday before last."

Blake shot Yang a sharp look. Yang nodded slightly without looking away from the manager.

"When you last saw him, did he seem different? Did he do or say anything out of character?"

"He left early that last day, which was unusual. He used to stay late to help me lock up. He's asked for weeks off before but this time, he seemed anxious when he asked. See, I keep an open policy; my employees don't need to tell me why they need the break. I figured that Tukson was anxious over some family issue. So I gave him the week off."

"And then he turns up dead," Blake muttered while writing something in her notepad.

Yang looked at Blake for a moment before turning her attention back to the manager.

"Did Mr. Kovach have any enemies that you may know of?"

"Of course not! He was my best employee and the others always asked him for help in the more technical areas of their jobs. He didn't talk about himself much but we all respected and liked him."

"I see. Thank you for your time sir."

"Of course officer. I hope you catch his killer."

Yang ignored his last comment and stood to shake his hand. Blake followed Yang's lead and the two of them left the building. Yang unlocked her cruiser and the two of them got in.

"So Ruby, my sister, the one you met the other day?"

Blake nodded.

"Well she's getting out of class early today and I offered to pick her up. So I could either drop you off at the precinct and I'll meet you there later or you could come with me and we'll head over to the precinct after we all have lunch."

"Either," Blake said with a shrug.

"But I'm asking you to choose."

"Fine. Ruby can pick where we eat though."

Yang grinned at the P.I. and started the engine.

A few minutes later, they pulled up to the curb where Ruby was bouncing. She threw her stuff into the car before jumping in herself.

"Blake! Ohmygod I haven't seen you in forever! Yang has talked nonstop about you at home!"

"Hey! No I haven't!" Yang turned to Blake. "I haven't, I promise," Yang reassured the P.I.

"Buuuut I heard we're all going out to lunch?"

"Yes Ruby," Yang sighed. "Where do you wanna go?"

"You mean I can pick?"

"Yup."

"Then... Castle Diner!"

"Alright," Yang put the car in gear. "Lunch is on me guys."

Yang pulled out of the college parking lot and made a right while Ruby was babbling to Blake about something.

—

Yang and Blake had dropped Ruby off a few hours ago and were sitting at Yang's precinct desk going over the case notes from their most recent investigation. The clock read six thirty pm the last time Yang checked and she was getting hungry. She rolled her chair back from her cluttered desk.

"Hey Blake?"

"Hm?" Blake glanced up from one of her notepads.

"It's getting sorta late and we might be here for a while longer. Wanna just order a pizza and call it dinner?"

"Sure," Blake chuckled and smiled softly. "But only as long as it has anchovies."

"I don't really trust anchovies." Yang pulled herself back to her computer and pulled up her usual pizzeria website to start the order. She clicked the "make your own" option and started building her usual. "They always seemed...fishy to me."

Yang grinned at Blake but was met by a totally unamused face. She shrugged and turned back to her computer.

"At least Ruby has the decency to complain about my jokes."

Blake rolled her eyes and went back to reading her notes. Yang watched her for a moment before finishing her pizza. She hit order, put in all her information, then jumped up from her desk. Blake looked up and looked at Yang questioningly.

"Bathroom. The pizza should be down stairs by the time I'm done. The store isn't too far from here so if they get here before im done, they'll call up. IF that happens, could you pick the pizza up for me?"

Blake shrugged before nodding.

"Thanks. You rock!"

The detective waved at Ren who was just packing up before nearly skipping out of the room. Ren sighed and shook his head. He left and Blake sat in the empty office in silence. She moved her notepads to the side and just sat there for a few minutes. Her eyes were just closing when the phone rang. Blake reached over to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Is this Miss Belladonna? Yang –sorry- Miss Xiao Long said that if she wasn't down here, I was supposed to call her number and you'd pick up?"

"Oh uh yeah. I'll be down in a minute."

Blake hung up the phone and walked over to the elevator. She rode it down to the first floor, picked up the pizza, thanked the delivery man, and then took the elevator back up. As she was waiting in the elevator, she cracked open the box a bit to better smell the pizza. She was surprised to find anchovies topping one half of the pizza. The doors opened with a ding and Blake immediately spotted Yang standing by her desk talking to someone on the phone. Blake walked up behind her and placed the pizza on top of some of Yang's junk.

"Alright thanks. I'll let her know now."

Yang hung up the phone and stared at the receiver.

"That was Kovach's medical examiner." She looked up at Blake who had a slice of pizza in her hand. "She just finished the autopsy and found something. Tukson Kovach had poison in his blood."

"So…" Blake lowered her pizza from her mouth. "This means this is a murder case now."

"Yeah." Yang slumped into her chair. "This is a murder case now."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Yang was sprawled across her apartment couch, lazily flipping through channels on the television. Ruby's dog Zwei was laying at her feet and licking her toes. Yang's phone buzzed from where she left it on the table when she walked in the previous night. She didn't look over or move to get it; the only person who ever called her was Ruby. It buzzed for a minute, then fell silent. Yang flipped a few more channels until finally settling on some romantic comedy she never saw the beginning to.

Yang's phone buzzed once for an incoming text message. She ignored that as well. A door opened behind the couch and Zwei lifted his head to greet Ruby. He jumped from the couch and ran to the kitchen where Ruby was pouring dog food into Zwei's bowl. Yang could hear her sister putting the dog food away before opening what seemed like every cabinet in the kitchen. Yang sat up to see Ruby staring at the empty refrigerator.

"Are you looking for something there, little sister?"

"Oh, nothing in particular. Just something to, you know," Ruby said as she shut the refrigerator door, "eat."

"Yeah yeah we've gotta go grocery shopping soon." Yang sighed as she got up to check her phone on the table. "We can go out to lunch today if you want."

Yang reached for her phone but it wasn't where she left it. She stared at the space she was sure she left her phone in. She looked at the pile of paperwork she had brought home with her and rifled through it to make sure none of the suspicious lumps were her phone. She had no such luck.

"Hey Ruby," Yang called out as she was turning around. "Did you happen to see my phone when you wa…" Yang's sentence fell when she saw Ruby smirking as she held Yang's phone in her hand.

"Yeah I saw your phone. And I also saw that Blake texted you!" Ruby laughed as she unlocked her sister's phone. "Want me to read it to you?"

"Hey! Give that back!"

"'Yang, it was really very nice of you-"

"I'm warning you Ruby."

"'To put the anchovies on the pizza last night.' Ew anchovies. But you hate anchovies!"

"You forget that I'm a cop."

"You wouldn't arrest your own little sister! Besides, you have nothing to charge me with."

"But I could keep you in holding for twenty four hours. And who ever said there wouldn't be any charges?"

Ruby's smirk fell. She clutched the phone in her hand and rushed to the center of the room, protected by the couch. Yang grinned at her.

"It seems to me that there is probable cause you are in possession of stolen goods. Even worse- the item in question is the property of a high ranking police detective!"

Ruby started fidgeting and unlocked Yang's phone again.

"Who could deny a reliable eyewitness testimony?" Yang continued.

Ruby tapped on Yang's phone while her sister babbled.

"Because of all this, I could arrest you for theft -robbery even! I hope you didn't have any plans for the next five to ten years because you'll be spending them in prison. Now, would you like me to read you your Miranda now or later?"

"Hello, Blake? Hi! This is Ruby!"

Yang gaped at her sister before lunging at her from over the couch. Ruby stepped back a foot to dodge the attack.

"So, Yang and I were planning on going out to lunch today and Yang suggested we invite you! Except she was waaaaaaay too nervous to call and ask you herself!"

Yang made another lunge for Ruby over the couch and made it over only to fall onto the cushions. Ruby skipped around to the other side of the couch.

"Castle Diner? Sure! I still can't believe you had never been there before."

Yang just stopped trying to catch Ruby. She sat up on the couch and watched her sister talk on her phone to invite her business partner to lunch. She tried to focus on the tv where the rom-com was still playing.

"Yeah okay sounds great! We'll pick you up in half an hour. See you then!"

"I hate you," Yang muttered just loud enough for Ruby to hear.

"Maybe, but you just proved to me that you do have a crush on Blake!"

"WHAT?! No way!"

"Mhm." Ruby sat down next to Yang. "You only ever act like this when you like someone. You haven't changed since middle school, you know."

"Shut up Ruby," Yang pouted as she got off the couch. "And go get ready for lunch."

Ruby grinned at her sister's retreating form and laughed quietly to herself. She got up and pulled out a sticky note pack from one of the drawers. She scrawled a short apology note to Yang and stuck it to the counter. She leashed Zwei and quietly left the apartment. Yang and Blake would both be in for quite the surprise.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

The drive to Blake's apartment was quiet. Yang gripped the steering wheel and fumed the whole way to Gambol Road. She hadn't taken her police cruiser and so saw at least twelve traffic violations committed in her presence. Her mood hadn't gotten any better. Almost half an hour after she left her own apartment -Ruby nowhere in sight- she finally pulled into the parking lot of Blake's building.

She turned the car off and got out, looking at the post it note with Blake's apartment number on it. She sighed and started up the stairs to the third floor.

"359...359...355, 357...359!"

Yang stuffed the slip of paper into her back pocket before sighing deeply. She knocked on the door twice and waited with her hands behind her back. Blake opened the door a moment later.

"Yang." She said with a nod.

Yang stepped back as Blake locked her door. She turned to face Yang and smiled softly. Yang fidgeted with her fingers.

"You ready to go?"

Blake nodded and started off towards the stairs. Yang followed a few steps behind. The stairs led out to the parking lot and Yang led the way to her car. She unlocked the doors and climbed into the driver's seat. Blake sat down next to her on the passenger side. The two of them stayed silent as Yang got onto the road. A red light a few blocks down stopped them.

"Ruby bailed on me the last minute so it'll just be the two of us."

"Ruby? What do you mean?"

"She said she was going to come; she was the one that called you!"

"I never got a call from her. All I got was a text from you asking if I wanted to go out to lunch."

"Oh."

Yang stared straight ahead and didn't say another word for the rest of the drive to Castle Diner. She parked in one of the spaces close to the front and jumped out of the car, heading to the front door. Blake was right behind her. Yang pulled the door handle and it opened with a bell ringing. A nearby waitress that always served Yang and Ruby smiled at them.

"Hi Yang! Table for you and your date?"

Yang's face flushed a dark red as Blake pretended to cough to mask her laugh. Yang felt her cheeks go hot.

"She's not my date," Yang said quickly. "We're not dating. We're just business partners, Nora."

"Table for two then!"

Nora went bouncing off to one end of the diner and wiped down one of the open tables before placing two menus down. She gestured for Blake and Yang to sit. Blake slid into the booth with her back to the door. Yang nodded a quick thanks as she slid into the opposite.

"So what'll it be for drinks?"

"I'll have a coke," Yang said as she flipped through her menu to the entrees.

"And I'd like a sweet tea, extra sugar."

"Sure thing!" Nora went bouncing over to the bar counter and put in the drink order to the bar tender.

Yang was trying her absolute hardest to look anywhere except towards Blake. No matter what Ruby or Nora said, she did not have a crush on Blake. They were partners -colleagues! It would be unprofessional of her to harbor any sort of feelings for Blake -Belladonna- romantic or otherwise. Besides, Ruby was still too naive to really understand crushes and how Yang dealt with them. Why, the last time she liked someone and someone else confronted her about it, she punched them in the face. She had never once gotten all red and flustered, thus proving she wasn't interested in Belladonna. When had she started calling her Blake anyway?

Blake sat silently and watched as Yang struggled her internal battle. She turned to watch Nora rush around and single-handedly serve all the diner's customers. Blake noticed that Nora knew almost everyone by name and stopped to chat with them a bit -but the orders were surprisingly always delivered on time. Blake was zoning out until the front doorbell chimed again and Nora squealed. She looked up and saw a man she sort of recognized being smothered by the tiny waitress.

"Nora and Ren have been nearly inseparable since they were kids."

Blake turned and glanced at Yang who was watching Ren and Nora with a faint smile on her face.

"Ren comes here for lunch everyday Nora is on the job and she always reacts the same way when she sees him -like that," Yang gestured towards Nora who was practically dragging Ren to a stool at the bar. "Yet they still deny being together."

Blake smiled. Yang started fidgeting her fingers again but hid them under the table to try and compose herself. Nora rushed by with their drinks and practically threw the straws at them before rushing off to continue pestering Ren.

"Isn't she going to take our orders?"

"Eventually," Yang chuckled. "Ren will start yelling at her to do her job at some point."

"NORA!"

Blake turned just as Nora was saluting Ren and running behind the counter to grab some plates of food.

"And that would be it. Funny, it's usually at least five minutes before he gets frustrated with her."

"Sorry for the wait guys! What would you like?"

"The usual, Nora. Thanks." Yang folded up her menu and handed it to Nora.

"Um, I'd like the tuna sandwich with a side of the homemade chips, please."

"No problem!"

Nora took the two menus and bounded off to the front where she stashed them. Blake watched as she gave the order slip to the cook in the back. Yang cleared her throat.

"Look, I'm sorry my sister dragged you into her crazy antics. She just thinks I spend too much time at home so she's always tricking me into going places."

"It's alright. I don't get to eat lunch with my friends very often anyway."

Yang felt her face start to flush and immediately tried to cover it up by pretending to choke on her drink. She coughed for a moment before giving Blake, whom she noticed had a worried expression on her face, an apologetic smile.

"Whoops. Wrong pipe," she croaked.

It was a total lie and she knew it. Blake didn't seem to think anything of it, though. The two of them sat in silence as they watched Nora run around the diner. Yang sipped at her coke every now and then. Finally, Nora brought their food to them. She put the two plates on the table.

"Enjoy! Call me if you need anything!" She went off to bother Ren some more.

Blake pulled her tuna sandwich towards her and pulled the toothpick out of the first half. Yang spilled ketchup onto her burger before shoving it in her mouth. Blake offered Yang some of her chips and Yang -who was trying very hard to not over react- offered some French fries as a trade.

"Sooo where did you go to college?" Yang mumbled through a mouthful of French fries.

"Oh Beacon University. I was a lit major."

"Oh I went to Beacon! I majored in Criminal Justice! Ruby's doing that now."

"Yeah I got my lit degree but decided it wasn't what I was looking for so I switched over to criminal justice."

"It must have been after I graduated because I don't remember you in any of my classes."

"Yeah I switched majors when I was 21. We were probably in the same year originally. How old are you?"

"I'm 25 now. I graduated nearly four years ago."

"That's when I switched. I turned 25 a few months ago," Blake said with a smile.

"How long have you been working as a P.I.?"

"Ever since I got out," Blake shrugged. "The second major didn't take as long as the first so it was about two years ago."

"You didn't want to sign up for the police department?"

"Honestly, I didn't have that kind of time. I was already holding a few part-time jobs that I didn't want to get rid of before I got any clients."

"Oh, yeah. I understand."

"What about you? Was the police detective life the one you always wanted?"

"Well, sort of." Yang laughed. "I'd always wanted to help people and one day in high school I realized I could do just that by becoming a cop." Yang shrugged sheepishly. "I really had to get my ass into gear for the police academy though."

Blake laughed and Yang smiled back. They continued to chat while eating lunch, Nora popping in to refill their drinks every now and then. At some point, Ren glanced over at Yang and she noticed. He gave her a questioning look while inclining his head towards Blake. Yang shook her head furiously.

Nora was filling up Yang's coke for the fourth time when she pulled out a small menu from her apron.

"Would either of you be interested in a dessert?"

"I'll try the strawberry banana milkshake today," Yang told Nora without even looking at the menu.

"I'd like a plain vanilla malt, please," Blake handed the menu back to Nora.

"Okay no problem! I'll just take your plates then." She grabbed their dirty dishes and skipped to the kitchen to drop them off and order the desserts.

"You're here practically every day and you've never tried the strawberry banana?" Blake smirked.

"Oh, that's just a running joke I have with Nora. I've ordered all the shakes but the time I ordered the strawberry banana, she wasn't working that day." Yang chuckled. "She's never let me forget that."

Blake smiled. A few minutes later, Nora came back with the two shakes and left straws and spoons. She took the empty cups and the last of the plates.

"Enjoy guys! I'll bring the bill around. Are you splitting it?"

"No. I'll pay." Yang pulled out her wallet from her pocket.

"No you don't have to." Blake was already taking out her own wallet.

"No no I insist."

"Oook..." Nora shifted on her feet uncomfortably. "I'll just come back later."

"No! Nora, I'm paying."

Nora nodded and left the table. Blake glared at Yang as she put her wallet back into her bag.

"What can I say," Yang shrugged. "I'm trying to make up for what Ruby did."

Nora brought back the check and handed it to Yang who signed it off and gave Nora her credit card to swipe. Blake silently sipped at her malt as Yang and Nora conversed a bit. After a while, Yang finally finished her shake. Blake collected her things and she and Yang started to head for the door. Ren glanced at Yang as she passed.

"Word of this never gets out," she hissed at him.

Ren shrugged and Nora giggled and wiggled her fingers from the other side of the bar. Yang found Blake already outside by her car. She unlocked the doors and they spent the ride back to Blake's apartment chatting about their college days. Yang pulled into the parking lot of Blake's place and was about to get out of her car.

"No, no. You don't have to get out." Blake was already leaving her seat with the door held open. "I think I can manage going up the stairs by myself."

"Oh...Alright. I guess I'll see you on Monday?"

"Yeah. And we should go out to lunch again sometime soon. It was...nice."

Yang felt her face get hot and silently thanked anything that would listen for not letting Blake see her flush. Blake got to the foot of the stairs and turned around and waved to Yang before heading up. Yang waved back and sat in the parking lot for a few minutes before settling down enough to get onto the road. She just couldn't understand why Blake made her feel so flustered every time she called them friends or whatever. Yang decided, at the traffic light a block away from her own apartment, that she would not give any specific details about her lunch with Blake to Ruby.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Doctor Oobleck sipped at his mug of coffee as Detective Xiao Long and her partner -whom Goodwitch had alerted him to- walked through the morgue's front door. The two were discussing something as they walked towards him. Oobleck stood by Tukson Kovach's covered body and waited for them to finish their conversation. He only picked up the end of the conversation.

"I told you yesterday, lunch was on me. Paying for you wasn't a problem."

"But if I was willing to pay, you should have let me."

"It was my way of saying- you know what? Never mind. We'll continue this later." Yang turned to Oobleck and smiled at him good naturedly. "Xiao Long and Belladonna here for Tukson Kovach's report."

"Yes I've been waiting for you." He downed the last of the coffee in his mug then set it aside on his workbench. "Well this is Kovach here," he pulled the cloth down to the corpse's waist. "As I said in my report, this man was a thirty three year old man, in relatively good health with no apparent heart, stomach, or liver conditions. However, the contents of his stomach worried me."

"How so, sir?" Blake looked up from the scribbles on her notepad.

"Well, at first glance, there were some coffee dregs, some cereal, and a banana and nothing unusual. But when I checked his mouth, I found some traces of a cocaine I've never seen before."

"What exactly does that mean?"

"It means, Miss Xiao Long, that cocaine was in his system -undoubtedly. However, the cocaine itself was different in nature than other types or "brands" of cocaine." He pried open Kovach's mouth with a scalpel. "Cocaine is typically injected or inhaled through the nose. It is not common for it to be ingested through the mouth. However, his mouth, esophagus, and stomach are covered with traces of it, as if it were in his food."

Yang and Blake shot each other a brief look between their note taking. Yang shrugged.

"And you think he was poisoned?" Blake nodded towards the corpse.

"Yes. I have determined that it was the cocaine in his food that killed him. He died at roughly 7:43 in the morning, perhaps five minutes after ingesting the food laced with cocaine."

"Blake, we've got to get back to Kovach's apartment and check to see if there was anything we missed. I'll also make some calls to help speed up the processing of the evidence collected." Yang turned back to Oobleck and grinned. "Thank you for your time, sir."

"No problem detective." Oobleck grabbed a coffee mug from the clutter on his desk. "Just remember that this cocaine is different from ordinary cocaine. I'll be sending a sample to the forensic labs to analyze it."

"Thank you again sir. I'll check up with them in a couple of days."

Yang and Blake headed out of the morgue. They got into Yang's car and she drove over to Kovach's apartment on the other side of town. It was still pretty early in the morning so the drive wasn't too bad; they pulled into the apartment parking lot twenty minutes after leaving the morgue. Kovach's death had caused a bit of a stir-up in the building so many of his neighbors were standing in the foyer when Yang and Blake walked in. They immediately swarmed around Yang.

"You're one of the cops investigating Tukson's death right?"

"What can you tell us about the case?"

"Was it murder?"

"Everyone calm down!" Yang called out to the crowd. Their voices lowered to a low mumble. "Now I'm here with my partner to investigate Kovach's apartment. If any of you have any information, please come forward. If not, please clear the way."

The two older men at the front of the group glanced at each other before stepping aside. Slowly the rest of the crowd parted and Yang led the way down the hall to Kovach's room. She pulled out the skeleton key the apartment owner provided her two weeks ago when the case broke and unlocked the door. She held it open for Blake then shut it behind them.

The apartment looked cleaner than it had two weeks ago when Tukson had been found. Chairs had been moved, floors mopped, and the books and magazines had been put away. The blue body tape was still on the floor. Blake headed into the bedroom to poke around.

Yang went off to the office room Kovach had set up. The laptop that belonged to Kovach was still impounded and not on his desk like the last time Yang was there. Papers still littered the desktop and poked out of the cabinets. Yang glanced at a few of them; they were mostly all printed credit score reports and budget balance sheets.

Upon closer inspection on one sheet, she did notice that a few months ago, Kovach spent more than he made but didn't have any negatives on his credit report for that month. Yang folded up the papers and placed them in a plastic baggie.

As she was going through the contents of the desk drawers, Yang heard a loud thump from the other side of the wall.

"Yang! You might want to come over here."

Yang put down the paper she was holding and headed next door to the bedroom. Blake was hunched over the empty bed frame shoved against the opposite wall. Yang strode up next to Blake.

"What's up?"

"Well, I was trying to inspect something on the wall but my phone slipped out of my pocket and fell. But it fell onto the bed frame and made a hollow sound."

Yang gave Blake a curious look. Blake pulled her phone out and held it over the frame. She dropped it and it bounced off the frame with a thump. She picked her phone from the floor.

"I see what you mean. That did sound pretty weird." Yang crouched down and out her ear to the frame. She knocked on it three times. "Yeah it definitely sounds hollow."

Blake crouched down next to her and smoothed her fingers across the wood. Yang fished around her bag for a pencil.

"There's a small crack that we could probably force open."

"I'm already on it," Yang grinned.

Blake shuffled aside and Yang jammed the point of her pencil into the crack. She wiggled it around a bit before the piece of wood gave and popped out. Yang and Blake stared at the interior for a moment. Blake glanced at her partner before reaching for the hole. She pulled a small black box from the cavity.

"It's a...hard drive?"

The duo was standing in the police department tech lab with the hard drive in hand. Yang tapped her foot impatiently as the tech guy who never seemed to ever be doing any work, was flirting with Blake.

"Sun! Could we please get on with the show?"

Sun grinned and winked at Blake -who rolled her eyes Yang noticed- and jumped into his chair and rolled to his desk. He held out a hand while he logged in. Yang handed over the hard drive. Sun took a quick glance at it before plugging it into his computer.

"Well, by the looks of it, it's an external hard drive. A couple of years old. Standard model. But I'll tell you more when I crack it open." Sun cracked his knuckles and accessed the drive's data.

"Huh, that's strange…"

"What is?" Blake stepped up to his left side to look at his screen.

"Well, for something hidden like it was, this hard drive wasn't heavily encrypted. And it doesn't seem like it has a lot on it."

"What is on it then?" Yang stepped up to his right side.

"Okay, okay ladies I know I'm great and all but I'd appreciate a little more space."

Yang took a slight step back. Blake didn't move an inch. Sun sighed and pulled up the files. He scrolled through their names and basic information.

"Most of these files are a couple of weeks old. A few of the older ones are a few months old but that's about it. And about three of them are videos." Sun grinned over his shoulder at Blake. "Wanna watch them with me?"

Blake shrugged and Sun clicked the first video. The video started off with a few seconds of darkness before some light was cast and a bedroom and bed could be seen. Sun's face lost its color as the video played on. Yang took a little step closer and immediately regretted it.

"Oh boy…" Yang muttered.

"Okay so kid porn… No wonder this sicko had this hidden in his bed frame." Blake curled her nose up at the screen and muted the video.

"But what's funny about this is," Sun shook his head clear. "Is that this video is nearly identical to the one found in Ironwood's computer a few weeks ago." He chuckled nervously. "Funny right?"

"What?" Yang started.

"Yeah, I worked the data retrieval for the Ironwood case and found kid porn videos on his hard drive. One of them was identical to this one. Want me to pull it up for you?"

"No, we'll pass, thanks." Blake said. "What a strange coincidence."

"Do you think we should tell Ozpin and Goodwitch about this?"

"Goodbitch?" Sun scoffed. "You can count me out if you're going to go to her. I'll just stay here and continue analyzing this hard drive."

"Thanks Sun. You've been a huge help as always," Yang patted his shoulder.

"It's what I'm paid for," he shrugged with a sly grin.

He winked at Blake again as she left behind Yang. Sun sighed then turned back to the hard drive. He had some work to do.


End file.
